It was probably too soon to give up on Seguin. He's 21 years old, signed to a reasonable contract and remains a potentially elite talent with a 67-point season under his belt. He also wasn't nearly as bad during the playoffs as his point totals suggested. Moving him for a top pick at the 2013 NHL Draft would've been the right move. Trading him for Eriksson, useful as he is, and some decent-to-good prospects seems shortsighted, as does the fact that Nathan Horton isn't interested in returning.

There will be lots of stories out of Boston about Seguin's off-ice behavior, particularly the amount of time he spends in bars, but remember: Mark Recchi, a former teammate who spoke in the past about Seguin's need to grow up, played a part in making this decision.

Boston's return was fine, and maybe Seguin needed a wake-up call to reach his potential. But given the amount of cap space the Bruins figure to have for at least one more season, they could have, and probably should have, waited to see what happens in 2013-14 before pulling the trigger. Now he's in Dallas, where he'll team with Jamie Benn, an All-Star already.

Boston is thinking about the cap. Seguin, reasonable or not, carries a $5.75 million cap hit through 2019. Rich Peverley has three seasons left at $3.25 million. Though Eriksson is at $4.25 million through 2017, the trade still gains the Bruins cap space — which is an important consideration, since Tuukka Rask is likely to count for $7 million over the next eight years and Patrice Bergeron $6.5 million starting in 2014.

Milan Lucic has three years remaining at $6 million annually. Whether Lucic is worth a raise is highly debatable, but that has to be on the mind of Bruins execs. Same with David Krejci ($5.25 million hit) and the contract he'll seek a year or two from now.

No offense to Eriksson. At the moment, this 27-year-old winger is the best player in the deal. He's a very good two-way player capable of 70 points per season, and for years he has been a go-to guy in the "who is the most underrated player in the league" category. He'll immediately play wing on one of Boston's top two lines, though the Bruins figure to need another, since Seguin, Horton and Jaromir Jagr are all gone.

Whither Joe Morrow. A 2011 first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins, this offensive defenseman has now been traded twice in a few months. Pittsburgh shipped him to Dallas for forward Brenden Morrow before the trade deadline. He's a good skater with a lot of potential and joins a crop of young Bruins blue liners that includes Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski.

— "Matt Fraser has a solid amount of skill and a top-end shot. He also works hard. Secondary offensive player. Defense not the best"

— "Had Reilly Smith in my top 100 drafted prospects last summer. Good skater, has skill, gritty forward as well. Ok at NHL level but has upside."

Jim Nill is good at his job. A longtime Detroit Red Wings assistant GM under Ken Holland, Nill turned down several offers before jumping at the chance to run the Stars. His goal is to add star potential and top-end offensive talent, and he's already reached it by acquiring Seguin and drafting Valeri Nichushkin 10th overall pick.